Posts
LOS ANGELES — Amazon's "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" became the first streaming series to win top Emmy comedy honours and HBO's "Game of Thrones" recaptured the best drama series award Monday at a ceremony that largely slighted its most ethnically diverse field of nominees ever.
With the exception of "Saturday Night Live," broadcast shows were shut out of the top awards as 21st-century platforms continued to overshadow traditional network fare like "This Is Us."
HBO, which had ceded its top-dog status in total nominations for the first time in 17 years in July (108, to Netflix's 112), ended up in a tie for wins with the streaming service at 23 each.
"The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," a freshman sitcom about an unhappy 1950s homemaker liberated by stand-up comedy, earned best actress honours for star Rachel Brosnahan.
Her castmate Alex Borstein earned the supporting actress trophy and the series creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino ("Gilmore Girls"), nabbed writing and directing awards.
Claire Foy of "The Crown" and Matthew Rhys of "The Americans" won top drama acting Emmys, their first trophies for the roles and last chance to claim them, with Foy's role as Queen Elizabeth II going to another actress and Rhys' show wrapped.
The field bested by Foy included last year's winner Elisabeth Moss for "The Handmaid's Tale" and Sandra Oh of "Killing Eve," who would have been the first actor of Asian descent to get a top drama award.
"This wasn't supposed to happen," said a startled Foy. She played the young British queen who, as the series continues, will be shown advancing in years.
"Game of Thrones," which sat out last year's Emmys because of scheduling, won its third best drama trophy despite competition from defending champ "The Handmaid's Tale."
"Thank you for letting us take care of your people," ''Game of Thrones" producer D.B. Weiss said to George R.R. Martin, whose novels and their characters fuel the drama.
In a ceremony that started out congratulating TV academy voters for the most historically diverse field of nominees yet, the early awards all went solely to whites.
An African-American sweep of guest series actor awards at the recent creative arts Emmys suggested big changes ahead for the awards, which only recently have given significant honours to performers and creators of colour .
But there was disappointment for "Atlanta," which had claimed acting and directing trophies last year for its star and creator Donald Glover and seemed poised for more with 16 nominations.
Rather than become the first black-led comedy in 33 years to be named the best (since "The Cosby Show" in 1985), "Atlanta" was shut out Monday (it won two awards, including guest actor for Katt Williams, last week).
The showing by "Mrs. Maisel" extended the long winning streak of shows that focus on white lives, including "Modern Family" and "Friends," with ethnic minorities rarely given screen time.
"Let's get it trending: #EmmysSoWhite," presenter James Corden joked at the ceremony's midway point.
Then Regina King broke the string, with a best actress win in a limited series or movie for "Seven Seconds," which tracks the fallout from a white police officer's traffic accident involving a black teenager.
"I feel like a lot of times we are so divided as a country that things are always black and white. I'm guilty of that a lot of times. I think that probably played into my assumption the chances of me winning was so small," King said backstage.
Darren Criss, who is of Filipino descent, won the lead acting award for the miniseries "The Assassination of Gianni Versace," which won best limited series. Black actress Thandie Newton won best supporting drama actress for "Westworld."
Peter Dinklage added a third acting trophy to his collection for "Game of Thrones."
Brosnahan used her acceptance speech to give a shout-out to her comedy's celebration of women power.
"It's about a woman who's finding her voice anew, and it's one of the things that's happening all over the country now," she said. She urged the audience to exercise that power by voting.
Bill Hader collected the best comedy actor award for "Barry," a dark comedy about a hired killer who stumbles into a possible acting career.
Henry Winkler, aka "The Fonz," won a supporting actor award — his first Emmy — for "Barry," four decades after gaining fame for his role in "Happy Days."
What to Read Next
